Radio Papesse

Some call it sound-art, new music, research sounds, acoustic experimentations or liminal sounds, we just call them Pepite, golden nuggets: tips on sound research, precious bits of our programming. Each week we select few Pepite and highlight them into our free from streaming.

In the last few weeks we have been listening to three brand new albums by three italian musicians we highly prize and we have already collaborated with or encountered along Radio Papesse's path: Barbara De Dominicis, Giulio Aldinucci – you might know him as Obsil – and Pietro Riparbelli.

Barbara De Dominicis and Julia Kent recently released together with French label Baskaru, the road-diary album Parallel °41, a mix of sounds, ambiences and soundscapes along the 41st parallel that joins New York and Naples both on an imaginary and musical journey between Kent’s home and De Dominicis' city, New York and Naples respectively. The two artists share the same geographical wavelenght but it’s clear they also inhabit the same delicate sound and music sensitivity.

The term Tarsia (or Intarsia) denotes an ancient technique of wood inlaying. The first examples of this practice date back to the XIV century and come from the Siena region. I have chosen this title – Giulio Aldinucci says - because I consider this technique similar to the that of a lot of contemporary electro-acoustic music. To make these wood inlays they used rare and carefully selected natural elements, which were then treated, and sometimes individually coloured, and subsequently placed next to each other in order to create complex patterns, which is what many musicians within this field tend to do. 

Tarsia is a complex and nonetheless very balance album, a must listen release we recommend you to give time.

Last but not least, we suggest you to listen to Three days of silence by Pietro Riparbelli, released by Gruenrekorder.

Since its precedent 4 Churches -  published by Touch in 2011 – Riparbelli's last ouvre has evolved into a more philosophical investigation and brings us into the La Verna Cloister – a sacred venue since Saint Francis received here the stigmata – where meditation and silence refers to something that goes far beyond the limited physical space. Three tracks, three days, an extraordinary album.